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The three Russian oligarchs named in Britain’s initial sanctions over the Ukraine crisis were linked to Vladimir Putin through a network of family connections, business partnerships and a shared love of martial arts.

Boris Rotenberg, who with his brother Arkady have built a fortune as one of the owners of Russia’s largest power and gas pipeline construction company, trained with Putin in martial arts in the 1990s at St. Petersburg.

His nephew Igor, who is Arkady’s eldest son, has maintained the family’s interest in infrastructure projects, while Gennady Timchenko, the third businessman named in the sanctions, provided money for the professional judo club Arkady created in the 1990s to pursue his business. love. sport

Boris Rotenberg

The 65-year-old billionaire and his family are among Vladimir Putin’s oldest allies, and his brother, Arkady, has known the Russian president since childhood.

The Rotenberg brothers trained and trained with Putin at the martial arts club in his native Leningrad, then St. Petersburg, before pursuing his business interests.

The UK sanctions describe Boris Rotenberg, who has Finnish and Russian citizenship, as having “close personal ties” to Putin and benefiting directly from the Russian government through his stake in SMP bank, which his brother founded in 2001.

The couple took advantage of the opportunity presented by the collapse of the Soviet Union to establish the SGM Group, the construction giant responsible for a succession of gas pipelines and other energy infrastructure projects across Russia.

The company is very close to Gazprom, the Russian oil and gas giant. The US Treasury Department sanctioned Boris in 2014, alleging that he and his brother had benefited from contracts awarded by Putin and his entourage with Gazprom and for the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Last year, Arkady Rotenberg came forward to insist he owns a sprawling luxury palace on the Black Sea that opposition activists say is owned by Putin. Boris’ personal wealth is estimated at around £1.8 billion.

Igor Rotenberg

Igor, the eldest son of Arkady Rotenberg, was described in British sanctions as a “prominent Russian businessman with close family ties” to Vladimir Putin.

A billionaire in his own right, Igor, 47, acquired several business interests from his father and continues the family’s interests in financing and infrastructure development.

He controls drilling company Gazprom and is a major shareholder in the company that runs Russian motorway operator “Platon”, which charges trucks for use of the main road network.

Igor is also linked to a Jersey-based real estate holding company that has a stake in the operation of one of Moscow’s busiest airports.

Gennadi Timchenko

The 69-year-old oligarch is one of Russia’s richest people with a fortune of around £14 billion raised through companies such as the Volga Group, the holding company for its energy, transport and infrastructure investments.

He was named in the UK sanctions as a key stakeholder in Rossiya Bank, a financial house with a major stake in the National Media Group, the pro-Kremlin mouthpiece that backs Moscow’s policies towards Ukraine. Announcing the sanctions in parliament, Boris Johnson described Timchenko as “very close to the Putin regime”.

Timchenko has a long-standing relationship with Vladimir Putin, having funded the founding of a professional judo club in Leningrad by Arkady Rotenberg in the 1990s.

Rotenberg then used the club to train and train with Putin. British sanctions accuse Timchenko of helping the Kremlin continue its actions in Ukraine, including through the integration of Crimea’s Rossiya Bank into the Russian financial system.

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